Visiting Flanders Fields on Memorial Day Weekend

 

Flanders Fields
 

Today is our "free" day and since it is Memorial Day weekend, we asked Flo, our host to take us to see Flanders Fields.  On the way, we stopped by one of Flo's friends who have a nice place in the country with fish ponds and chickens. We had coffee and talked sailing with Mark, one of Roger's sailing partners.    The town of Ypres is about 30 miles from where we are staying, in the seaside town of Oostende.  Flo dropped us off at the Menin Gate, an impressive monument to those victims of WWI.  We had a picnic lunch atop a

Liverpool Scottish Cross

 berm that runs along a canal.  There was a moving exhibit with panels pleading for peace in the world.  We also visited Hooge Crater where Welch miners fighting for the crown dug underground mines to detonate German artillery.  This action created a huge crater in the landscape.  We read signposts about it and viewed old shells and remnants of the war.  Today is a gorgeous sunny day.

Peace Exhibit - very moving!



Menin Gate commemorating lives lost in WWI

Check out Photos